We identified that our city boasts at least 153 languages, making it one of the world’s most diverse places.

Manchester University language professor Yaron Matras

Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester was revealed to be one of Britain’s most ethnically diverse communities in the most recent Census.

Nearly half the residents said English was not their primary language.

Dozens of different nationalities live and work side by side in Polish stores, Arabic sweet shops, Jamaican hair-dressers, halal butchers and oriental clothing manufacturers.

High Street shops, banks, opticians and Egan’s funeral service line up alongside the Sahara hair and beauty salon, Fashion K Sang, Super Taste Shawarma and a Dixy Chicken diner.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Urdu is the most commonly spoken language in the area after English, followed by Arabic, Polish, Kurdish and Italian.

But despite the diverse races and religions, all the locals were spoke to yesterday agreed it felt like “home”.

Mum-of-one Shamila Khalil, 26, who has lived in the area all her life, said: “I really like it. It’s a busy place and I like that there’s a lot of different shops to choose from. For food it’s always Cheetham Hill.”

In the vast arched and green-tiled Manchester Superstore Ali Abrar, 32, said he would not want to move.

The Pakistani-born dad-of-three, who moved to the area from Bradford 13 years ago, said: “It’s a mixed community and it’s been like that since I’ve lived here.

“I haven’t seen much change with the different nationalities coming in.

“It has a good community feel to it.’’

The labels on food in his store are in both Arabic and English.

Care home assistant Jenny Day, 25, who has just moved in from Fleetwood, Lancs, said the vast range of stores stocking goods from all over the world made it a shopping Mecca.

“The shops are very cheap, especially for furniture and some of the mobile phone shops,’’ she said.

“At first I thought it looked a bit rough. It’s very different to Fleetwood.

“But everyone is very friendly. In the bank you hear staff speaking in one language to one customer and in another to another. It’s really interesting.’’ Polish warehouse worker Filip Suchanek, 26, who has lived there two years, grumbled it was “dirty” and there was “too much rubbish”.

But he added: “There are a lot of good shops here. Everything that you need is nearby and you don’t have to walk or drive far to get what you want.’’

Czech shop assistant Vavra Zbynek, 33, added: “You can get food from almost anywhere in the world.

“I like the smaller independent shops. I can get Czech food here so it feels just like home. It’s a great place to chill.”

“There are so many different people from all over the world,” he said. “It is a good place to be.

“There are so many great food shops and second-hand charity shops.”

Elizabeth Evans, 20, has lived in the area all her life. She said: “This is my home town.

“Everything is on my doorstep. All the things you want are out there.

“When you walk along the High Street you see people of different races and a lot of the shops have become Asian shops, which is a good thing. It’s home for people no matter where they are from.”

One Orthodox Jewish rabbi said: “I have lived here all my life.

“People have their own circles but they respect each other. You have got your kosher shops, your halal butchers and Polish delis. I’m going to the Kashmir market now to get some cooking apples.

“There’s no reason not to get on with your neighbours.”

Historically the area, once a town in its own right, has been a honeypot for Jewish, Irish and Asian migrants.

Its cheap rents and the tolerant attitude of its residents have helped draw in a multitude of migrants from all around the world.

Manchester University language professor Yaron Matras, who has identified more than 150 languages being spoken in the city, said it was even more culturally diverse than the census suggested.

He said: “Although Census data provides important confirmation of Manchester’s enormous linguistic diversity, our research shows it has significantly under-represented both languages spoken and the numbers of people who speak them.

“We identified that our city boasts at least 153 languages, making it one of the world’s most diverse places.”